Rakuin no Monshou:Volume1 Chapter7

Status: Incomplete

60% completed (estimated)

   

Chapter 7: Mirage Kingdom

Part 1

“Who are you?” Ryucown asked again.

“A gladiator.”

With that simple reply, the swordsman charged at the rebel general at full speed, wielding a sword with both hands.

The blow came within an inch of Ryucown’s face, and he responded with a head strike of his own. The masked gladiator quickly distanced himself.

The wind from the high-speed exchange raised a whirlwind between the two duelists.

“A Mephian? How did you sneak in here?”

“Who knows?”

During that short exchange, the hall across from the two burst into chaos. Warriors garbed in the same gear as the gladiator clashed with Ryucown’s troops. Every member of this group was an elite fighter, handpicked for the ability to do battle in a chaotic situation.

Sparks flew and curses were exchanged. Shique was dual-wielding twin blades, decapitating one foe after another, while the giant sword-slave Gilliam swung his axe with all his might, cutting through enemy flesh even though they were in full armor.

The masked gladiator struck again. Ryucown side-stepped the blow, then brought his sword down in a vertical slash.

The swordsman steadied his center of gravity by spreading his legs and caught the blow. He then immediately used the rebound, the instant Ryucown was pushed a step back, to launch a vicious attack.

“Oh, not bad.”

There were two, three, then numerous blows with the two locked in a stalemate.

“Tell me your name. With such skill, you must be famous.”

“Who knows.”

Repeating the words he spoke earlier, the masked swordsman – Orba – wielded a swinging strike.

The ‘gift’ Orba had mentioned at the Doom’s bridge earlier was Princess Vileena. He had expected there to be traitors within the Garberan camp and that, as soon as they launched their attack, Ryucown’s forces would coordinate with them for a pincer strike.

And the spies within the Garberan camp had done precisely as expected – getting close to the soldiers guarding the princess. Like this, he was able to read the enemy movements. And just before they took the princess off the ship, Orba swooped down on them to save her.

Then, during the confusion caused by Ryucown’s attack, Orba and his forces changed into Garberan armor, took the unconscious princess off the ship, and led a battalion of trained soldiers toward Zaim Fortress. Naturally, when Ryucown’s force saw them coming, they automatically thought their allies’ plan had been a success and even escorted them into the fortress.

Orba’s heart brimmed with excitement. He felt like he’d become a main character in one of the heroic novels he’d read when he was young. Everything was moving to his plan, and now he was facing the enemy general one-on-one.

But,

Dammit!

A fourth, a fifth strike; the two warriors fought on and sparks flew with every blow.

Ryucown’s skills far exceeded Orba’s expectations. Easily predicting the young man’s moves, his opponent’s sword appeared to come from every direction. And while Ryucown’s strikes came from left, right, front and back with daring aggression, he never left any opening to exploit.

Beads of sweat began to roll off Orba’s back. He couldn’t afford to waste any time there. The longer this lasted, more enemies would be able to reach the upper floor. If they followed his strategy, the flagship Doom should be heading toward the fortress while finishing off the main rebel force, but it was difficult for a newbie like Orba to predict how long that would take.

The only thing he could do, was to utilize every minute, every second he had to finish off Ryucown. Thus all he could do was to wield his sword, strike, dodge and feint.

Vileena held her breath as she watched the scene before her. Of course she didn’t realize that the Prince Gil she knew and the masked duelist were the same person. And although the battle seemed to be on equal terms for a while, her eyes began to see the tiniest differences between the two fighters.

During their numerous exchanges, Ryucown kept observing Orba’s techniques. The skills were there, but there was a strange personal quirk within his technique. Especially when he made a long-distance strike, he left his left side unguarded, because his feet didn’t follow suit.

Ryucown gave a thin smile. Then he stepped back.

Orba fell for the feint and followed. In that instant, Ryucown pushed himself off the ground. The point of his blade grazed the Orba’s face. And when his feet touched the ground again, Ryucown positioned himself next to his opponent’s side. Pushing himself off the ground again he raised his sword overhead, and soon enough the point of his blade touched the mask.

“Ugh.”

Orba quickly put all his strength into his back, and turned his body to dodge. Ryucown continued to press in. Unable to regain his his posture, Orba realized he was being driven back as he tried to block the violent succession of attacks.

“Your plan to infiltrate is amazing.”

Although his face was covered in sweat, Ryucon was still breathing regularly.

“But it’s impossible to achieve victory, if you do not finish me off quickly. Even though you’re an excellent fighter, you already lost in the instant you couldn’t kill me.”

Orba did not have the luxury to reply. He finally realized the truth. His opponent’s skill being better than his – he hadn’t counted on that. The knight’s swordsmanship, strength, technique and even experience far exceeded his own. Compared to the unscathed Ryucown, Orba’s side and hips were slightly injured and one of his armour’s shoulder guards had broken off. He was out of breath, and he could barely hold on to his sword.

In that moment, the Ryucown’s troops started gathering in the main hall. The gladiators were also pushed back by their force. No longer able to defend the door, they were driven to the center of the hall and immediately surrounded by the soldiers rushing in on them.

“Damn it!” Gilliam grunted and raised his axe.

Shique mirrored his stance. There was still a killing intent in their eyes. Knocking down a thrown spear by the soldiers surrounding them, Gilliam said,

“I don’t want to say this, but it I wish Orba were here. The bastard’s an annoying one, but you can rely on that icy cold strength in a battle – what’s so funny, Shique?"

“No, no, you’re right. Although that masked guy is pretty strong, he is far from Orba, right? Oh really, if I knew it would come to this, I would’ve tried much harder to get him here.”

Covered in the blood of enemies and themselves, the duo could still joke away in such desperate straits, but the other gladiators – one had been pierced by an enemy spear, and another had his leg cut off – fell down one by one.

Ryucown was convinced the battle was over. He planned on sneaking in on Orba’s chest and, the moment the gladiator would dodge out of the way, make another strike. The two swords met once more, and finally Orba’s sword got flung from his hands.

“What?”

It was Ryucown who cried out in surprise.

Confident of his victory, the rebel general had relaxed his stance, and in that instance Orba pulled out a dagger from his waist and attacked. He’d chosen choose to gamble away his weapon for one desperate attack.

Got it!

Loaded with confidence, Orba piled into Ryucown’s body. The rebel troops unintentionally raised shouts of surprise, and suddenly the main hall was filled with sound of metal clashing against metal.

At the southern bottom of the hill, the armies clashed with each other under the bombardment of both sides’ artillery. The battlefield had already turned into a every-man-for-himself fight. Mephius’ and Ryucown’s troops mixed with each other in a chaotic melee, and an orange fire illuminated the moonless sky.

“Fire! Fire!!”

The old general Rogue Saian could not contain his excitement and bloodlust, thus personally let his troops on the front line. Volleys after volleys of shots were being fired, aimed at the line of troops.

Although the Mephian troops held superior resources and numbers, it was their enemy who currently possessed the upper hand.

At the same time, Gowen let a ten man team to flank the enemy from the right. They had a Baian dragging two cannons along with them. They were hoping to use them to bombard the enemy, but their position was quickly spotted by a patrolling airship.

“Get down!”

As Gowen threw himself to the ground, giving out the order, a bullet flew right before his eyes. A single-seated airship flying close to the ground almost strafed him, shaking his hips, before pulling back toward a sky with a sharp angle. But in that instant, the ship suddenly lost its balance. One of the gladiators was clinging on to the airship’s tail end. The other gladiators quickly came swarming over, dragging the pilot from his airship.

Although they continued their advance, Gowen’s heart was cast under a shadow of impatience.

For Ryucown’s forces, this assault was as good an opportunity as ever. Probably stirred by instigators, part of the Garberan army had turned traitor and struck a blow to the Mephian army, sending them into confusion. They didn’t need to completely annihilate their forces, inflicting 20 to 30 percent of damage was sufficient. With that much, the Mephian army would no longer see the value of for another nation’s territory and withdraw.

It was a perfect opportunity. Which was why for someone like Ryucown, who didn’t need to think about retreating, there would be no holding back. He would use all of his forces – and it actually went just as Orba had predicted. Weaving their way through that gap, Orba and an elite set of forces slipped into the fortress in order to put an end to Ryucown. And after driving away the enemy’s main force, Doom would head for the fort at the same time and occupy it.

That was the idea, but…

According to Orba’s plan, the Garberan camp should’ve immediately joined up with Mephius. Even if their side had fallen to confusion, they would have enough forces to contend with and crush the enemy forces, but the Garberans had made no move. In a free-for-all, confused battle, even their messages became jumbled up. He’d be lying if he said his own predictions weren’t sweetened up a bit.

In any case, the enemy’s morale was extraordinarily high. If one of them fell, another would step over the corpse, or even use it as a shield. Step by step, they slowly pushed forward into their direction. Besides, the Mephian troops didn’t even know that their indispensable prince – although only a body double – and princess were inside the fortress.

The Mephians don’t have the same fighting spirit. If this goes on, their army will soon fall to pieces. I have to hurry!

And so, Gowen resumed his march. At the center of the hill, from a place with a good view, he fired his cannon right in the middle of the enemy gunners. One shot, two shots… A pillar of flames rose up with every strike, but three shots was the limit. A new fleet of airships was already heading towards their position.

“Make way! Make way!!”

This attack definitely inflicted some serious damage, but the enemy line didn’t collapse, not even by a bit. The only thing Gowen could do was to leave their artillery and flee the place with the dragons.

Orba!

If it came to this, Orba just had to hurry and take Ryucown out. Then, they could only hope that the enemy’s will lost their will to fight. He retreated, the sound of wailing gunfire around him as the bullets grazed his shoulders.

Ryucown opened his eyes wide… then he squinted them tight again.

Orba was leaning forward with his full weight bearing down against him. He hadn’t drawn any blood. However, Ryucown had barely been able to block Orba last desperate attack. He stilll carried a 60 cm short-sword behind his back, which he’d pulled out at the right moment to defend.

Orba still tried to use his strength to deliver another blow, but the thrust passed as Ryucown had already moved around him in a semi-circle, and all he could do was fall forward. On all four on the ground, a blade was placed to the nape of his neck.

I lost.

Orba’s body went cold as he felt steel prickling his skin. There was no way to change the outcome. Orba had managed to outwit his foe, but Ryucown’s swordsmanship, as well as the Garberan movements, had been a fatal blow.

Having lived through countless battles, this was his first time he tasted defeat. For him, it meant that the heart that had been beating only for vengeance, would stop beating halfway.

“I like your gall. If you hadn’t been born in Mephius, I would have gladly fought at your side,” Ryucown said, as he prepared to sever Orba’s head.

“Stop this!”

Vileena’s scream rang clearly within the hall. Ryucown tried to ignore her at first but,

"Stop it now!!”

Feeling the second scream carried the force of life or death, Ryucown glanced her way. Sure enough, the Garberan princess was pointing a pistol his way. The soldier right behind her had a panicked look on his face, so she probably stole the gun from him.

Ryucown smiled.

“So, what are you going to do? Shoot me?"

“No,” Princess Vileena said, shaking her head.

Her face bloomed into a lovely smile, making one wonder what she was thinking, and she lifted the pistol.

“I will shoot myself.”

She pointed it at her own temple. Ryucown’s eyebrows jumped up while unrest rose among the soldiers.

“What is the meaning of this?”

“Do you have the guts to say the words you mentioned earlier in front of your loyal troops? Your true intentions? While you are a knight serving royalty, your own ideals stray from your true purpose. Do you wish to have them to bear the same burden?”

Vibrant light had come back to the pair of eyes that had once held such despair before. Even as she held a gun to her head.

Ryucown held his tongue. He was puzzled by Vileena betting her life like this. Just as the fourteen-year-old speculated, Ryucown could not allow Vileena to die in front of his troops. These soldiers shared his ideals of rebuilding the Kingdom of Garbera to a country of true knights. However, they also revered princess Vileena’s royal bloodline. If they lost their idol, his cause would collapse. Someone like him, who was willing to do anything to create an ideal nation, was in one way an innovator, but in another way the type to be criticized as evil.

While Ryucown and Vileena were engaged in a silent battle, the defeated Orba was crouched at the sideline. His back heaved as he breathed roughly, but by no means had he accepted his death.

From the inside of his mask, he stared at the short blade that parried his earlier attack.

That’s…

There were letters clearly engraved on the blade. There was no mistaking it.

O, R, B, A…

It was none other than his own name. Orba’s heartbeat that was about to stand still, firmly started ticking away at a steady rhythm again.

Part 2

"Princess"

"You highness, please put down the gun!"

The soldiers begged, while Princess Vileena's eyes met Ryucown's. Perhaps due to determination, there is no trace of emotion on her snow-white face.

"Princess, You really have a temperament meant for a military commander," Ryucown sighed, "if...If I decide to say what is in my mind in front of the crowd, what are you going to do? If we stick to the old ways, we would never reach the future (3). Even if the battle before us become a rout, the results will be the same. Don't you think it would be best for us to challenge our fate?"

"Then speak quickly. I am already prepared."

"Your highness!"

"Don't come any closer!"

As she notice the soldiers were trying to get closer to her, Vileena backed away. But to everyone's amazement, her trigger finger did not waver. Although she is still surrounded.

"Please look, You highness."

Ryucown turned around and pointed toward the flame-filled window.

"Look at those mindless Melphian, Garberan armies with overwhelming numbers, and our courageous soldiers. What does this represent, you highness should understand. Ignoring the cowardly Melphians, the Garberan army have also fallen into confusion. Correct, for no other reason than its soldiers could not decide if they should follow me or not. They do not blindly follow the royal family, those who follow my path is the true way to protect this country, this is what the Garberan people have concluded."

Ryucown continued, and his troops did the same.

"Princess, please understand us."

"This is the battle that will decide Garberan dignity, please understand us."

Vileena brought her sight to meet theirs, no one had a drop of hostility, only compassion. She could never bear any enmity or hatred against them, for everyone in their hearts love Garbera, and love the flower of Garbera, the princess Vileena.

"I DON'T WANT TO!"

The princess cried again, but for what reason? She knotted her brows, full of tears, with the gun still pointing at her head, and screamed like a child throwing a tantrum,

"I DON'T WANT TO! I DON'T WANT TO I DON'T WANT TO!"

"Vileena-sama!"

"This is the Garbera grandfather loved, and father nurtured!" Tears fell freely from her eyes, "Why, Why do such..."

"Stop uttering idiocy.."

As if summoned by a voice from the abyss, Ryucown and the princess look toward that direction. Ryucown threw out a look from someone who totally forgot about Orba, and coolly added "don't move," while pointing his sword at the Gladiator. But...

"That Sword, Return it to me."

"Return it to you? What are you talking about? This is..."

"Six years ago"

Orba continued. For some reason, the rebel general hissed, completely swallowed his remaining words. His gaze met the Gladiator who is getting up from the ground, while listening to Orba's every word.

"...six years ago, you were not even a knight, but you were more knightly. But it is different now. To fulfill your ideals, you decided to raise your sword against your liege, and threaten her with death. Why are you gambling your life??? And deaf to the words of the very lord who is also gambling hers? Are you intoxicated?? Ryucown, you are not a knight anymore."

Ryucown was about to bring his blade up for a strike, and everyone's attention were focused on the princess, which gave Shique the chance to breakout his encirclement. At the same time,

"Take it!"

The Gladiator flung his sword as if he and Orba planned it together, and Orba caught it square on. Then he used the confusion to move behind the princess, snatched the gun in her hand, and pushed the weapon against her head.

"Princess!"

"Your highness!"

"Don't move!"

As if he didn't hear Shique's words, Ryucown charged toward Orba with a piercing strike, then slashed the sword slave with his long sword.

"What are you standing still for?" Using this opening, the Rebel Knight roared. "We will not let a melphian harm her highness. Capture him!"

Shique sucked his tongue. The faces on those soldiers were intertwined with confusion and bloodlust while starting back at each other. If he want to act he have to do it now.If he wait until the enemy reach a decision, then it is back to a outnumbered desperate situation again.

If we have to act...to which direction?

"Gladiator-san"

"Ha"

Shique was shocked, he is being ordered around by Princess/hostage.

"This way"

Whispering under her breathe, and moved her jaw toward a nearby parked Airship. Shique's mind instantly clicked,

"I understand, please excuse my roughness."

"I am used to it."

As soon as she replied, Shique coldly fired a shot in front them. Before its fearsome roar fade away, he grabbed on to the princess's thin shoulders and begin to run. Vileena leaped on to the Skyship's cockpit, while Shique sat in the passenger seat. She immediately gun the engines and the skyship begin to float away.

"I will bring reinforcements! Wait for me!"

Shique called out. But at this instant, the princess hesitated. Within the great hall, there are still brave Melphian troops, and loyal followers of Garbera who want to restore it to their ideals. The princess could not just watch these people throwing away their lives.

"Your highness!"

Ryucown's face paled, and headed straight for the Airship. He was only a step away before he was cut off by the flash of a steel blade. The rebel general spit at the ground, then turned to welcome Orba and his sword.

"GO!!"

Orba roared. Blocking the strike that would had sliced his head off, twice, three times, and followed by a barrage of strikes. Then he yelled out again,

"Vileena, MOVE!"

The princess stared at him as if she was struck by lightning, then the airship threw off its pursuers and flew into the night. Then it melded with the darkness and vanished.

"Since it come to this..."

Both men refused to back off, and Ryucown bared his teeth,

"I guess I might as well bury the princess along side with the Melphian army."

"What?!"

Orba swallowed a mouthful of air. He is almost completely exhausted. The source of strength is still flowing, it is his boiling black blood (3). He don't know what he should do, his could not achieve his goals, (4) only could watch what is his been taken away, again and again. During that time.

But, Orba has a sword. A tool to turn that boiling blood into reality.

"How could somebody like you---"

"I will never let someone like you go."

The two duelist shouted while their blades screamed. Although their views are different, but what is in their hearts are the same.

(I will not let you stop me!) (Orba) Blocked Ryucrown's blow, adjusted his own stance, then struck from both directions, but his attacks still were blocked.

(Maybe all I need is just another burst of strength, it is the only choice left)

If something is preventing him from succeeding, even if it is lofty principles, ideals, Gods or Dragon Gods--Orba will challenge it with a sword in hand.

But at this moment, the gladiator is falling into his old habits again. As soon as he perceived what is a opening, he would struck with overwhelming force. In this instant Ryucrown dodged the attack by spinning his body around, then used the inertia for a counterstrike---

As if it is six years ago, it is the same scene Orba saw...

DONG! (SFX: Steel on steel)

Showers of Sparks flew,

"Ugh"

the sound of a wail mingled freely with fresh blood.

Ryucrown's blade was bounced off Orba's. He was the one who fell for the trap. The rebel general was waiting for the opportunity to deliver a counterstrike, but his strike rebounded and he lost his balance. Orba's sword struck his chest, fatally.

Although he (Orba) still paid a price. The left side of his mask cracked open with a snap.

"amazing"

Ryucrown remarked as he collapsed, coughing blood with every breathe.

"Until a few moments ago, I can see can see a nation of knights... but I am now...is this the end? Tell me your name. I, Ryucown would not wish to be laid low by a nameless man."

"Orba"

Other than Ryucrown, no one could hear those words.

Uncertain if he (Ryucrown) heard that final word, Ryucrown did not utter another word, then closed his eyes. Orba could only silently stare at him.

References and Translation Notes

(2) 劝诱人-Seducer? spy? will have to wait for context. -- JP: 近衛兵 'imperial guard(s)'; but considering the context, they're indeed spies.

(3) I have no idea what this is about.

(4) Chinese translator's saying is difficult to understand, is either he achieved his goals...or he couldn't.

如果非要被古老的体制所束缚，以至于无法实现理想的话--This seem to say "If we are bound by our old ways, we would never achieve our dreams" ?

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